


un rendez-vous avant noël

by kitschy



Series: life is sweet and we are growing [2]
Category: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas, F/M, First Dates, First Kiss, Fluff, Gen, literally as always with me, she doesnt have the range darling, vaguely but tbh it doesnt really matter that its christmas it just happens to... be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-29
Updated: 2020-11-29
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:00:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,895
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27767905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kitschy/pseuds/kitschy
Summary: Nadir stumbles into two of the best moments of Erik's life so far.
Relationships: Christine Daaé/Erik | Phantom of the Opera, Erik & Nadir Khan, Erik | Phantom of the Opera & The Persian
Series: life is sweet and we are growing [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2031100
Comments: 24
Kudos: 30





	un rendez-vous avant noël

**Author's Note:**

> omg so. i wrote 'une fête d'halloween' for the 13 nights of halloween challenge as u all know, and i thought it was just gonna be a fun lil one-shot. but several people said they wanted to see more of these characters and so i had to open up a note and title it 'DAMMIT ANOTHER AU' ... here is the first nearly-unedited (because i'm trying to do school stuff too) word dump story as a result of that
> 
> i think i'm just gonna do fun one-shots and not a full-on multi-chapter fic for this, because i can't even manage having one of the latter. hence: a series!
> 
> i just put this one as teen and up bc ~swear words~ 🤪

On the twenty-third of December, Nadir strode into Erik’s apartment and froze, his face catching in a strange mix of horror and curiosity at what was happening on the sofa. Erik and Christine sat facing each other, her hand cupping the bare side of his face, his expression rapturous as she kissed him, his ear deep pink. He lifted his own hand to cover hers, stroking her fingers and kissing her back; even as Nadir thought _okay,_ _aw,_ this made it all too intimate for him to stifle a reaction.

So, like an idiot, he said, “What’s up?” a little too loudly, and Erik jerked away, his visible features flushing across as if splashed with paint. Christine snapped her head to look at Nadir and erupted in a convulsive, high-pitched laugh, eyes wide, before slapping a hand over her mouth.

“Hi. Wow, sorry,” she said after briefly collecting herself, still smiling with nervous amusement. “I mean, not for what I was doing, but sorry that you…”

“No, no, don’t be,” Nadir said. “Um, how long has this been going on?”

“Just about twenty seconds, I would say, so you're, like, right on cue.” Christine tucked back her hair, then touched her necklace, and Erik continued to be speechless.

“Oh. Well, _I’m_ sorry. I can totally go—”

“That’s so sweet of you, but I actually have a class. That’s not a lie to get out! Erik can attest.” She stood to grab her coat, still smiling. “I thought I would kiss him right before I had to go, so that if things went badly, like, if he didn’t want me to or whatever, I could just leave in a hurry. I mean, I'm glad that didn't happen, but it was a thought I had.” She fastened a button on her coat and turned back. “Erik?”

“Yes?” he managed.

“I’ll text you after class. Don’t die. It's so nice to see you, Nadir, but I’ll just leave you to your, uh, bro talk,” she said, and with another awkward, bubbly laugh, before Nadir could say bye, she was out.

In the stunned silence after the door clicked shut, Nadir wondered why he was surprised now. Tens of times since that Halloween party, he’d come to Erik’s apartment only to see his best friend and Christine at the piano, talking to each other through a movie—a habit Erik had magically stopped hating—or at the dining table, laughing over spreads of ignored homework. _Am I being replaced?_ he'd once asked Erik half-jokingly. _No, don't be absurd. It's a different sort of thing._

And it was. At the very start, Nadir had expected the new friendship to fizzle; they'd met at a strange time, and Erik was not known for building relationships. Besides, Christine was usually brimming with energy, so full of funny little catchphrases, spot-on impressions, and general optimism that when he'd been informed she was an orphan, Nadir had thought it was a dark joke. Later, he'd straight-up asked how a personality so antithetical to Erik's hadn't driven him away or even annoyed him a little.

Erik had proceeded to expound on Christine's wonderfulness as if he'd just learned some fascinating new theory. She wasn't happy because she was naïve, he'd explained intently, but because she was smart enough to have discovered how to be despite what she'd endured. She was mature, too, gracious and polite in small, markedly adult ways, her etiquette often unnecessary but always thoughtful: _why don't you try some of this; let me get you some more water; sorry, I totally interrupted you just now, go on!_ Long story short, he didn't want to bore Nadir, but Christine was good for him, made him see things in a way that felt better. Nadir understood. He felt the same way with his new girlfriend, Rookheya. And though Erik had insisted over and over that love wasn't what was happening here, and never would be, Nadir had known what he was seeing. Really, then, he should only have been surprised this hadn't all happened sooner.

Recovering just a little, Erik stood to glare, though it was hard to take him seriously with his face still red. “You,” he began as he walked over, “motherfuck—“

“I’m sorry!” Nadir threw up his hands. “Man, you gave me a key. Why would you kiss her out here when I could walk in anytime?”

“I didn’t kiss her! She kissed me!”

“Semantics,” he said in his best mockery of Erik’s voice. “Anyway, look, you don’t have to be embarrassed. I’m happy for you. I just feel bad for, you know, cock-blocking.”

“Dear God, Nadir, _please_ don’t say that.”

“I didn’t come up with the term.”

“I know, I’ve heard it before, but we—that isn't what you were blocking!”

“Again, semantics. Relax.” Nadir grinned. “Hey, man. Christine Daaé. Nice job.”

“Not like I really did anything,” Erik muttered, but as he rubbed his masked forehead, a small smile appeared on his face. Unfortunately, though characteristically, it disappeared just as quickly. “But what do I do now? I’ve never done anything like this. Oh, God.” He put a hand over his good side. “I cannot believe you walked in on my first kiss, Nadir. And I cannot believe I’m twenty years old. How humiliating—”

“Erik. You're spiraling.” Nadir pried his hand away. “Who cares when you have your first kiss? Kissing at sixteen sucks, and anyway, you just found someone you really like. Can you be happy she likes you too?”

“Are we certain she does? She didn’t say anything about her feelings. She just… kissed me." He started pacing, which Nadir had repeatedly explained was stressful for everyone. "Out of nowhere. And then we didn't get to talk about it, because a lunatic barged in without knocking, and also”—he held up a finger—"because she had an escape plan. Why would she have that? To escape!"

“No, because she was nervous, dumbass, which she wouldn't be if she just wanted to hook up. Did you see her run out of here? And that crazy laugh.”

“Yes.” Erik faltered in his agitation, looking away fondly. “She giggles. Like someone in a book. And she rambles, sometimes, when she's flustered.”

“So ask her out.” Anticipating the argument, he continued quickly. “Look, you’re smarter than me in a lot of ways, but I think it’s safe to say I’m”—he spread his hands—"a bit of a ladies’ man.”

Erik rolled his eyes. “I thought you were settling down now.”

“I am, but I have experience, okay? You guys like each other. So you text her while she’s still in class, ask if she wants to have dinner this weekend, and when she gets out, she’ll be super happy and say yes. Khan guarantee."

"Your last 'Khan guarantee' was that I'd ace Lefevre's impossible midterm with Rookheya's study technique." But he didn't say no, and when it came to Erik and ideas, not-no was almost as good as yes.

“And you got ninety percent!" Nadir reminded him with a winning smile. "So give me your phone."

"Eighty-nine, and in any case, I don't trust _you_ to craft a romantic text for Christine."

"But you are going to ask her."

Erik rubbed a hand over his mask, then sighed. “It's the only way to find out if she wants to, and I suppose I have nothing to lose if I mess up. Except my very close friendship with her, and my dignity, and any possibility of—”

“Do it now, Erik, or I’ll do it for you.”

So he did. And after eighty minutes of pacing, bickering, an attempt at distraction via cooking, and half a screening of a horribly depressing environmental documentary, Erik’s phone pinged.

“Pause this,” he said, “before I drop out and move to a forest. Or kill myself.” When he picked up his phone and read the text, his face remained blank.

“Well?”

“She said no,” said Erik flatly, and Nadir's heart dropped.

“Oh. Oh, man, I’m so—”

“—to this weekend.” Erik looked up with a tiny, warm smile. “She wants to go tomorrow night, and she knows a good restaurant.”

“Fuck!” Nadir punched him in the shoulder and grinned. “Not funny, asshole.”

“Yes, yes, I’m the worst. Now what on Earth do I wear?" He stood and headed for his room without waiting for an answer. "Never mind," he called back, "your fashion sense is atrocious. And... also." He turned around at his door, then shifted on his feet before asking, "Are first kisses supposed to be bad?"

Nadir blinked a few times. "Usually, I guess, yeah. But don't worry. It'll get better with practice."

"No, no." Erik folded his hands behind his back. "I was just wondering if it was supposed to be. It was... really nice." He cocked his head and looked up. "My heart was beating very fast, but it was peaceful, too, in a way. I was nervous, but not scared. Does that make sense? Is that normal?"

Right then, it felt like something changed, but really, nothing did—Nadir had already believed in love.

On Christmas Eve, Nadir walked hand-in-hand with Rookheya down the Rue Saint-Anne, admiring the snowflakes in her black hair as she anxiously surveyed the street.

"I should have thought this through, I'm sorry. We're not going to find somewhere that's open and has a table." She turned to him with a small pout. "And I'm a terrible cook, so that's out too."

"Hey, don't be sorry. We'll figure something out—look." He nodded at a glowing window not far down the street. "What's that place?"

Keya turned and squinted to see the sign. "Michi? Oh, I've heard of them. They're supposed to be really good. Well, if they can't seat us, we'll have to make them."

"You glare, and we're golden." He tugged her over with a grin, but as soon as they stopped in front of the restaurant window, he huffed. "Not again. I don't think we can eat here."

"Oh, shit," said Keya, peering in beside him, "is that Erik? With Christine Daaé?"

Of course it was. This time, though, there was nothing much to see, not to any other onlooker. They weren't holding hands across the table, or gazing into each other's eyes, and they definitely weren't kissing, thank God; no one was flirtatiously showing the other how to use chopsticks or even losing their mind over some inside joke. Christine was eating, glancing at her sushi as she picked it up and then focusing earnestly back on Erik, who must have been telling a story.

Though his face was lit, his shoulders were relaxed. He gestured now and then, smiled here and there, even raised his brow suggestively at one point, which made Christine laugh and set her chin in her hand, food forgotten. He talked with the poise of someone who was used to being listened to, the excitement of someone who had so much to say to someone else, the ease of someone who had never been lonely. That was what it was about, Nadir decided. Someone giving you joys you'd thought you didn't need, and not even doing it on purpose.

"C'mon," said Nadir, pulling Keya closer, suddenly so lucky and full of so much to say to her, "I'll cook, and let's eat at home. Just the two of us."

**Author's Note:**

> first a halloween party... now a date before christmas... i wonder how many french holiday-themed titles i can come up with using my not-very-advanced language skills. maybe i'll stop using holidays soon there aren't enough that are good
> 
> on another note i cackled for 20 minutes after writing the sentence "his face was lit" because aha aha LIT. yoooo his face is lit af... i am 12 sometimes. but if other people laughed at it too i'll change it bc the moment is NOT supposed to be funny


End file.
